Microsoft partners with Adaptive Biotechnologies in a new project

Microsoft has recently announced that it has entered a partnership with biotech company Adaptive Biotechnologies as part of its NExT initiative.

Both companies will work in collaboration to develop a new blood screening test to enable medical professionals to diagnose a number of diseases in one sole screening, and improve the ongoing treatment in chronic diseases such as cancer.

Through mapping the genetics of the human immune system, Microsoft will bring machine learning and exceptional cloud technology to the fore, in order to support Adaptive’s immune sequencing and blood diagnostics, gaining increased insight through essential data produced in real-time.

“This announcement comes at a time of inflection in healthcare and biotechnology. We now have the technology to be able to do what we’ve been talking about for the past decade – develop a universal TCR antigen map that presents an opportunity to help patients at an unprecedented scale,” explained Chad Robins, President, CEO and Co-Founder of Adaptive Biotechnologies.

“Some conditions like cancer or autoimmune disorders can be difficult to diagnose, but this universal map of the immune system will enable earlier and more accurate diagnosis of disease, potentially helping physicians to connect the dots to understand the relationship between disease states and eventually lead to a better understanding of overall human health.”

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“We are very excited and inspired by our collaboration with Adaptive Biotechnologies, as it clearly advances our mission to use cloud and AI technologies to transform healthcare and improve the lives of people around the world,” explained Peter Lee, Corporate Vice President, AI and Research, at Microsoft.

“This collaboration combines powerful sequencing and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies into a revolutionary new capability, and represents the kind of deep collaborative partnership that we live for.”

“Imagine a world in which an ‘X-Ray of the immune system’ actually exists,” Lee also highlighted in a blog post. “This would open new doors to predictive medicine, as a person’s immunological history is believed to shape their response to new pathogens and treatments in ways that are currently impossible to explore.

The impact on human health of such a universal blood test that reads a person’s exposure and response to disease would be, in a word, transformational.”